Multiple domain web hosting - CHAPTER 7 INTRODUCING PHPBB 227 The ins
CHAPTER 7 INTRODUCING PHPBB 227 The ins and outs of installing and creating hacks: I ll show you how to use the phpBB hack template to install modifications to your board. You ll get the benefit of my experience with hacking phpBB s code to make it work the way you want it with a tour of the built-in phpBB programming interfaces. I ll introduce you to several modifications I feel you can t live without. Plus, I ll show you how to document your own modifications so you can release them to the world so others can use your features. Harnessing the power of the phpBB template system: Using phpBB s template system is an essential for your board to get the professional look you covet. You ll get the full walkthrough of phpBB s template variables and control structures so you can make your forums look the best they possibly can. Looking Toward Olympus In addition to my coverage of the phpBB 2.0 series, I m also going to provide a preview of the next-generation phpBB software, to be known as phpBB 3.0.0 and currently codenamed Olym pus. As of this writing, the only pre-release versions of phpBB 3.0.0 are development versions pulled straight from the phpBB source code repository, so bear in mind that a lot of things could change between now and then. Figure 7-2 is a screenshot of a preview version of phpBB 3.0.0, known in its development stages as phpBB 2.2. phpBB 3 is a major overhaul of the phpBB software with a noticeable performance improvement, a revamped template system, and tons of new features designed to make using and administering the forums easier. Some of the more notable features include the following: Revamped User Control Panel: Instead of having separate areas to edit your profile and check your private messages, phpBB 3 offers a unified User Control Panel, similar to what is found in commercial products such as vBulletin. The UCP currently offers modules for editing your profile, checking private messages (which has been vastly improved in this version), managing forum subscriptions, and a buddy list of people on the board that you are friendly with. Plus, the new UCP is fully modular, so more modules can, and likely will, be written for it to further extend the functionality of the board. You ll be able to specify your birthday and see it and others birthdays in a special section in the forum index (if the administrator so chooses). Attachments: Attachments finally will make it into phpBB as a core feature in this version. Attachments have been around as a modification to existing phpBB 2 series boards, but the phpBB 3 series integrates them and integrates them well, with even a User Control Panel module for managing your attachments. Revamped private messaging: As alluded to previously, private messaging has been seriously revamped in this version. You can save drafts of private messages, add storage folders, and even set up rules for filtering incoming private messages much like you do with your e-mail. It is already among the most flexible of private messaging systems, even in this early stage. Friends and Foes : You can set up a list of who you like on the board for easy private message access, or set up a list of people you don t like so you can ignore their posts automatically. This feature should be a boon to keeping peace on a board like never before.
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